First Iteration of Coaching Conversations in the Brain
While still working face to face, I designed and had my assistant produce both a 15×15 foot and 5×5 foot large brain mat and had students and clients simulate a conversation in the brain using yarn. Then the pandemic hit, and in-person classes and meetings halted. I had to come up with an alternative. I developed the attached worksheet to be used virtually, although it can certainly be used in face-to-face meetings.
Nicknames
I have given many talks about the brain and leadership and noticed that people’s eyes start glazing over when I explain parts of the brain. I decided to give the relevant parts nicknames that focused on their function. I included the function and, while describing each part, touched my head to point to a location and had my audience do the same.
How to Use the Worksheet, Part 1
For the purposes of learning, I invite you to identify a recent work or personal situation in which you felt some fear, anxiety, or threat. I will walk you through a conversation that might be occurring in different parts of your brain and see if you can riff on that to imagine the conversation in your brain. There are six players in this conversation, each with a different voice and tone.
First, let’s meet the cast of characters, and I’ll demonstrate a potential conversation.
1. Threat Detector, also known as your amygdala. It is between your ears. It is working away, picking up threats every 1/5 of a second. Threats can be actual physical threats or threats to one’s sense of self and identity.
2. Learning Librarian, also known as your hippocampus, lives near your Threat Detector and spends its days and nights embedding learning and storing memories, especially negative ones.
3. Habit Central, sits in the Center, just above and behind your ears. It’s where habits are embedded. This part of the brain allows you to operate quite efficiently, so you don’t have to use up a lot of energy thinking about what to do at every moment.
4. Sensory Emotion Spotter, also known as your insula, is tucked deep inside your brain. It helps you become aware of visceral sensations, which helps you identify emotions.
5. Cortisol is a neurochemical that is secreted by the adrenal glands. We have receptors all over our bodies. When we feel threatened, cortisol can last a long time in our bodies, causing inflammation and negatively impacting our memory, emotional regulation, and ability to bounce back.
6. Optimism Center is located on the top front of your brain (behind your prefrontal cortex) and helps you focus, generate optimism, and empathize. Importantly, imagining the possibility of a positive future event helps regulate the Threat Center when we expect that future to come to fruition. The voice of the Optimism Center –is “Oh, something else is possible for me here.”
